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Atlanta Hawks: Heat 116, Hawks 109 (3 OT)

1:38 am January 6, 2012, by Michael Cunningham

Al Horford summed it up: “This by far has to be my worst defeat here as a Hawk. I didn’t feel like we wanted to win this game.” Possible exceptions include Ivan Johnson, Willie Green and Tracy McGrady.

  • This was the kind of loss that people who can’t embrace the Hawks predict as soon as they hear LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are out. And then it happened. “I wish they would have played, to be perfectly honest,” Larry Drew said. “I think if they would have played we would have taken a whole different approach.”
  • To get a sense of the Hawks’ disarray in this loss, listen to the various explanations for the poor pick-and-roll coverages that plagued them all game.
  • Drew on Chris Bosh’s game-tying 3 at the end of regulation: “Mental, mental breakdown. Just total mental breakdowns from key players. We knew they were going for the quick basket. We were going to switch a lot of the things. When you make a switch, you come together. We didn’t do that. We tried to cheat the play and they stepped right in between us. It should not have been switched because we didn’t come together.”
  • Horford: “That’s a miscommunication there. That went on all game. Guys were not on the same page and we weren’t switching. We were having some problems with the coverages. Jeff [Teague], you can’t fault him, he expects it to be done the right way every time.”
  • Josh Smith: “I don’t know how much louder I can scream for whoever it is that a man is coming up and setting a screen. . . . We were giving up too many straight-line drives to the basket and dribble-drive layups. It’s disappointing to see that when somebody makes a play, as teammates we have to come up and help them. ”
  • Drew said he didn’t want to foul on Miami’s last possession of regulation: “I trust my defense in that situation. We did everything right except we had a breakdown on our switch. We didn’t switch it. It just took a moment for Bosh to step back and get open. I thought we did everything perfect up that point.”
  • The Hawks missed 12 free throws after halftime. “You’ve got to step up and make them,” Joe Johnson said. “I’m one of the biggest culprits.”
  • Johnson also missed 6 of 7 3-point tries. He missed all three of his shots in the third overtime, when the Hawks became just the 10th team in league history to fail to score in an overtime period.
  • The talk about Johnson’s renewed energy for this season looks flimsy now. For the second game in a row the Hawks needed their alpha dog to make one or two plays to win and he couldn’t do it.
  • Teague struggled, too. He had five steals and seven assists against two turnovers but missed 11 of 12 shots and four of eight free throws. He didn’t fight hard through screens at times though, after talking to Drew and the Hawks, I’m still not sure how much of that is his fault–because they didn’t sound sure, either.
  • Teague is still learning on the job but he didn’t look as confident tonight. “We missed shots and it carried over to our defense, starting with me,” Teague said.
  • McGrady (14 points on eight shots, five assists, seven rebounds) didn’t play after the first overtime. Drew said it was a strategic decision and then McGrady wasn’t able to return: “While he was on the bench he stiffened up and he couldn’t get back in there.”
  • McGrady: “I sat down for too long.”
  • Smith was spent for the third overtime. He slumped on the scorer’s table before the jump ball. Horford pumped his fist and yelled: “Smoove! Come on, man!”
  • Josh: “I understand that they are looking to me to generate most of the energy but at the same time we are all professionals. Everybody has to be able to go out there and play no matter who steps out there on the floor.”
  • Horford got Bosh in Miami; Bosh returned the favor tonight. “He’s tough, man,” Horford said. “He knows how to play. He buys into his role with his team and steps back, but we know he’s capable of doing that any time.”
  • Vladimir Radmanovic makes contributions but he can’t make a shot. This is a problem since that’s why the Hawks signed him.
  • The good vibes generated by the Hawks after the W in Miami are gone now. And they still have to play two more games in two days.
  • “The frustrating part is it’s little things we can control,” Horford said. “It’s free throws, it’s little things on defense that we do sometimes and other times we don’t. Tonight we probably let our guards down with those two guys being out. That’s somewhat of a factor, but that’s still no excuse.”

Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat

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154 comments Add your comment

uga-brave

January 6th, 2012
2:38 am

shooting 33% from the field. barely scratching 50% from the line. smoove.

defend him?

Harry Hawk

January 6th, 2012
2:40 am

I love the T-Mac quote:

“I sat down for too long.”

Most of the team looked like their legs had fallen asleep because they’d sat on the can for too long.

Harry Hawk

January 6th, 2012
2:41 am

So MC is a “trader,” eh?

Please trade for Dwight Howard, MC.

Thank you.

Joe for 3

January 6th, 2012
2:42 am

Trader or traitor?

From reading his tweets, he looks to equally lay the blame.

He notes the lethargic play off all players, not running through screens.
He notes that Horford actually had to call Smoove on to the court after the first OT.
He also mentioned Teague not looking confident.

That seems like fair analysis, and far from picking one any certain player.

FreshFromATL

January 6th, 2012
2:44 am

Doc,

I posted the link in my 1:48am post.

tony

January 6th, 2012
2:47 am

I didn’t watch the 2nd half but I’m not surprise that they lost to a Wadeless Miami team. The hawks need to put themselves in position to draft Kendall Marshall-pg and Orlando Johnson-sg. Marshall is as close to J.Stockton and Steve Nash as they come and Orlando Johnson is a fearless competitor who can beat his man from the perimeter or drives to the basket. They will make the hawks better basketball team next season.

cp

January 6th, 2012
2:55 am

Its time to break up the core. Like Reggie Miller pointed out tonight, yea they have been together for years now but what have they won, nothing. At this point break up the core and get a new coach. New talent and a new voice leading them. We have been seeing the same let downs from this group for years now.

Harry Hawk

January 6th, 2012
2:56 am

This is Josh’s eighth year in the league. He may not be old, but he’s been in the league too damn long to expect any kind of positive changes in his game. The changes needed to occur three or four years ago. They didn’t. He is a fully-formed basketball player. Horford and Duck Butt, I mean, Marvin are in the same boat.

Teague can get better, but “Teague can get better” is not exactly the kind of marketing slogan that is going to put butts in seats.

The sad thing is that we Hawks fans waited for years to finally get some productive draft picks. Aside from Marvin (let’s not open that can of worms again), I think we’ve done pretty well with Josh, Horford, and Teague. Unfortunately, none of these guys turned out to be a superstar. We needed to hit on a superstar. Because he was the best scorer on the team, Joe Johnson became our poor man’s superstar just long enough for us to pay him like he was an unholy beast who goes HAM on every team in the league. He’s just a complementary player, though. All we have is complementary players who don’t complement one another very well.

HawkEye

January 6th, 2012
2:59 am

Hawks need to stay away from primetime games. LOL.

Lets hope they don’t have any more games on TNT, ESPN, or ABC (doubt they will see the last network).

doc

January 6th, 2012
3:02 am

yeah fresh, finally got the right one. that was a beauty and strikes right to the heart of the matter. very sad, but those guys know. hated how the heat were huging the sideline in their suits. i so want them to keep losing as they arent a class act. unfortunately, adding battier and having udonis a poor mans artest/rodman with stability and a bb iq is priceless. they look pretty complete.

i can only hope there is someone out there to challenge them. too bad stern played with the rules and wouldnt allow paul to go to la. was it to make the hornets better or lakers weaker for the heat?

Najeh Davenpoop

January 6th, 2012
3:12 am

“najeh, at what point is the give up point at your smove?”

What exactly am I supposed to be giving up on?

Najeh Davenpoop

January 6th, 2012
3:17 am

Josh is no different from Al and Joe. A talented, versatile, complementary player who is never going to carry a team by himself and should ideally be playing a supporting role to a true superstar. I don’t see what is there to “give up on”. I accept that Josh is probably never going to understand how to play to his strengths. I accept that Al is probably never going to be able to create his own shot or play adequate help defense. I accept that Joe is probably never going to learn how to use his size advantage to draw fouls and create space for his shot.

All three are good players. None is going to win the Hawks a championship, which is why the Hawks should call up the Magic and offer any two of them for Dwight. Barring a trade, the Hawks’ only hope for reaching elite status is to watch Teague develop into a better player than Joe, Josh or Al (which isn’t going to happen as long as LD keeps f-cking with his confidence) or if T-Mac finds a time machine and turns back the clock by ten years.

Mac-Town #maconchevyrider

January 6th, 2012
3:17 am

“Damn, The Hawks cant perform in big time Games”

-Falcons
………………………………………………………………………………

“The Hawks choke every time they get under the bright lights”

-Braves

…………………………………………………………………………………

“smh, when is the last time the Hawks won a big game”

-UGA Football

Mac-Town #maconchevyrider

January 6th, 2012
3:19 am

“Josh is no different from Al and Joe. A talented, versatile, complementary player who is never going to carry a team by himself and should ideally be playing a supporting role to a true superstar”

Mac-Town #maconchevyrider likes this.

uga-brave

January 6th, 2012
3:28 am

najeh, he is a coach killer. either you see it or you dont, .

way to much talent. zero ability to go right. no post up game. how long. the guy is immensely talented.

how many years does it take? hustle is a plus. the guy works as hard as anybody.

but as far as fundamentals he will always lack. how hard is it for him to drop a drop step in the post?

Hmmmm

January 6th, 2012
3:32 am

DAMN, MAC-TOWN’S 3:17 POST WAS SIMPLE YET ALL TRUTH LOL.

COULD’VE THREW IN GEORGIA TECH AND THE THROWBACK OPTION IN THERE TOO. ALWAYS GETS EXPOSED WHEN THE OPPOSITION GETS MORE THAN A WEEK TO PREPARE. EVEN THE BASKETBALL TEAM GOT DRILLED BY ALABAMA THE OTHER DAY OUCH LOL.

Mac-Town #maconchevyrider

January 6th, 2012
3:34 am

Hawks front office/management and some fans want our core to be stars when actually all of them are complimentary players. They have ECF and Finals aspirations by adding complimentary bench players with these “stars” when all they are really doing is adding sub-complimentary players to other, better complimentary players (the core).

Time to go after a real star(s?) and build around that foundation.

Hmmmm

January 6th, 2012
3:37 am

SERIOUSLY, IS ANY TEAM IN THIS CITY EVER GOING TO GET SERIOUS ABOUT WINNING A CHAMPIONSHIP? EVERY TEAM IN THIS STATE ACTS FINE WITH BEING DECENT. WTF.

PEOPLE DON’T COME OUT BECAUSE THEY KNOW HOW THIS MOVIE ENDS LOL. WHY PAY TO WATCH ANOTHER BIG GAME LOSS WHEN I CAN PUT THAT MONEY TOWARD SOMETHING ELSE, LIKE THE AQUARIUM LOL.

Hmmmm

January 6th, 2012
3:39 am

PEOPLE WOULD RATHER WATCH FISH SWIM AROUND THAN JOSH SMITH AND CHIPPER JONES LMAO.

THE OWNERS DON’T SEE THAT AS A PROBLEM?

Mac-Town #maconchevyrider

January 6th, 2012
3:40 am

Vote for your State of Georgia collegiate and professional sports motto!

A) “Almost, but not enough”
B) “At least we’re above average”
C) “When in doubt, blame the fans”

Mac-Town #maconchevyrider

January 6th, 2012
3:41 am

lol..chipper? He’s going to roll out in a wheelchair before they force him to retire.

Hmmmm

January 6th, 2012
3:47 am

“Time to go after a real star(s?) and build around that foundation.”

THEY CAN PLAY OUT THE SEASON AND SEE WHERE IT GOES, BUT IF THEY FAIL AND ONE PLAYER IS TRADED, THE REST NEED TO GO AND THEY REALLY JUST NEED TO CLEAN HOUSE AT THAT POINT. THIS HAS NEVER BEEN A LIKABLE TEAM FROM DAY 1.

-JOSH WAS NEVER REALLY A FAN FAVORITE
-THE JOE TRADE WASN’T POPULAR (THEN ADD THE LAWSUIT, THEN THE MAX DEAL)
-MARVIN? PFFT YEAH HE’S UNPOPULAR
-AL? HE USED TO BE POPULAR, BUT MOST ARE TURNING ON HIM ALSO
-BILLY KNIGHT? BACK TO BACK WILLIAMS, NUFF SAID.
-RICK SUND? CHEAP RETREAD WHOM NO ONE BELIEVED IN FROM THE START.
-WOODSON WAS ALWAYS A JOKE.
-AND WHEN PEOPLE THOUGHT THEY WERE READY TO MAKE A REAL COACHING MOVE, THEY SET US UP, TALKING ABOUT BIG NAMES, AND JUST GAVE IT TO DREW LMFAO. MARK BRADLEY WAS RIGHT ABOUT DWANE CASEY, BUT ASG DIDN’T WANT TO PAY UP.

WHAT’S THE POINT OF KEEPING ANY OF THEM AROUND? TINKERING DOES NOTHING.

Hmmmm

January 6th, 2012
3:51 am

MAC-TOWN, NOW YOU KNOW CHIPPER IS UNTOUCHABLE AROUND HERE, SO WE CAN’T DOG HIM TOO MUCH OR ELSE THE SUITS WILL COME KNOCKING ON OUR DOORS LOL.

Hmmmm

January 6th, 2012
3:56 am

I WILL GIVE ARTHUR BLANK CREDIT BECAUSE IF THE FALCONS EMBARRASS HIM ON SUNDAY, I BELIEVE HE’S GOING TO DROP THE HAMMER ON BOTH COORDINATORS AND CUT A FEW BIG NAMES TO SEND A MESSAGE.

BRAVES HAD THE BIGGEST COLLAPSE IN NL HISTORY… WHAT DID THEY DO? REPLACED THE HITTING COACH. AWWWWWWWWWWW LOL. BOBBY COX HUNG AROUND 10 YEARS LONGER THAN HE SHOULD HAVE BECAUSE HE NEVER RAISED HELL.

HawkEye

January 6th, 2012
4:01 am

Horford always seems more disgusted by our bad losses than Joe and Josh. Just thought I should post that. Horford is the closest thing we have to a vocal leader and unfortunately, that is just not going to cut it.

When players on your team don’t get upset by losses like this, it shows a lack of heart. You should be upset you lost to the Bosh-lead Heat team. I want someone, ANYONE (even Harry the Hawk or the waterboy) to get upset and chew these guys out. LD obviously can’t do it. Just sad.

Charles hit the nail on the head. “Too many nice guys”.

Furthermore, not owning up to your own mistakes is a sign of weakness.

I’m just sick of seeing professional basketball players go out there and play half a** basketball, especially in a winnable game.

I’ve been wanting to say this for a LOONG time and I will stand by it. I’m happy we did not draft DWill or CP3. Given this organizations track record, they would have been pasted at the end of the bench and would not have half the NBA career they have today.

Oh well. Game Over. Rant Over. Coach in Over his head. On to the Bobcats. Also, at the risk of repeating the obvious, FIRE LD.

Hmmmm

January 6th, 2012
4:09 am

DERON AND CP3 GREW UP UNDER TWO TOUGH MINDED, NO NONSENSE COACHES IN JERRY SLOAN AND BYRON SCOTT. PUTTING EITHER OF THEM WITH WOODSON WOULD HAVE BEEN TERRIBLE. IT’S KIND OF FUNNY HOW BOTH PGS FORCED THEIR WAY OUT OF THOSE CITIES, THOUGH, YET THIS TEAM IS STILL HOLDING ON TO MARVIN LOL.

GaSouthernSmooth

January 6th, 2012
4:41 am

Way to fall flat on your faces boys on national tv. Someone give them the tape of Sir Charles roasting them tonight. Embarrasing to say the very least. HORFORD PLEASE take this opportunity to light a fire under the starting five’s arses by letting em know how you really feel. I’m just glad I didn’t spend the money to watch this fiasco in person like I had so naively wanted to after tuesday. Ill stick to my wed cheap seats lol but on the bright side when can I get my Ivan Johnson jersey???

Buddy Grizzard

January 6th, 2012
4:49 am

“When players on your team don’t get upset by losses like this, it shows a lack of heart.” – HawkEye

After the collapse at Chicago, Derek Rose was quoted saying how upset he was at how badly they played, how he felt they should apologize to the fans for how bad they played. AND THEY WON THE GAME. Meanwhile in the Hawks locker room everybody making excuses… awe poor us we played a game last night.

hawks fan down under

January 6th, 2012
4:59 am

After the game on TNT….
Miller: “A loss like this was like a black eye to the club.”
Barkley: “I wanna punch them in the other one.”

This is how I feel.

Dont Brick It

January 6th, 2012
5:08 am

Who cares about those 3.. we have just found a gem, Ivan Johnson. Start the guy.

T-Mac & Ivan Johnson, dudes with Basketball IQ & Swag.

Big Daddy

January 6th, 2012
5:16 am

One of the comments I have heard over the last few years is how the Hawks play down to their opponent’s level. This team should have had a double digit win. Instead they looked completely in disarray and undisciplined in the execution of their defensive and offensive set. The assault on Teague’s confidence continues and he is not getting in the flow of the game.

Al said it was his worse defeat as a Hawk. It was probably the worst coached game as well. The coaches have to properly prepare their team for any game. If a player is not executing, that player needs to sit. If you have multiple players not executing the game plan, that falls at the feet of the coaches. Preparation and execution was shown by our opponent tonight, not us.

Big Daddy

January 6th, 2012
5:45 am

@superiorbogman, “This had nothing to do with preparation and execution sometimes you just have to go to work when you don’t feel like it.” I don’t know how you can say that. Their execution, of their plays, particularly in the 3rd overtime is what won them the game. Even when it appeared toward the end of the 2nd that the Hawks might be able to win. The coaches preparation for such a situation and the players ability and willingness to trust the coaches direction was what won them the game. LD said in his after game interview that certain key players did not execute the defensive and offensive plays that were set up. That is what costs us and continues to do so.

I am not saying that it has not gotten to a point where we should look at making a trade but the fact of the matter is that the coaches draw up the game plan and enforce the discipline it takes to run it. When you are consistently making statements about players not following through on the plan, taking ill advised shots and not establishing any type of post presence, that falls on the coaches. It is up to ownership and upper managment (i.e. Sund and ASG) to see to it that we have the right people in the right places. That means the players and especially the coaching staff.

A true test of whether others teams in the league believe you had a progressive, fundamentally sound coach is whether or not they get another head coaching job after they leave your team, for whatever reason (i.e. Byron Scott, Rick Addleman, etc). The last several coaches who have left the Hawks have not gone on to other head coaching postions. I finally see Woody sitting on the bench for the Knicks. That makes a statement on what others in the league thought of your selection for a head coach. Do you actually think that if LD was let go tomorrow that someone would be after him to join their staff? Think Sacremento, who just fired Paul Westphal would love to have LD come and coach their team? Why do you think that might be? How about preparation and execution the players exhibit from the administration of the coaching staff.

PEDRO EL GITANO

January 6th, 2012
6:07 am

Lo unico rescatable del equipo es la calidad de T-Mac,la entrega de Ivan Johnson,el irregular Teague y el pundonor de Josh Smith.Todo lo demas es mierda.

terrell

January 6th, 2012
6:32 am

As long as the ASG thinks that Joe “amnesty clause” Johnson is a superstar, and that L freakin D is an NBA coach nothing will change.

Double Zero Eight

January 6th, 2012
6:35 am

The Hawks are mired in mediocrity. They don’t
stand a chance of reaching the Eastern Conference
finals without a “true” big man. Horford is too
soft and not physical enough.

No one in the starting five was able to step up
during regualtion to prevent the game from going
into overtime. The free throw percentage was
atrocious, esspecially down the stretch.

The game should have never gone into overtime.
They should have fouled with about 5 seconds left
to seal the win. Larry Drew does not deserve to be
the coach based on that decision alone. His basketball
IQ is obviously lacking.

Not being able to beat the Heat without Wade and James
is a true measurement of where the Hawks stand……..
mired in mediocrity as usual.

Double Zero Eight

January 6th, 2012
6:37 am

Spelled “especially” incorrectly in previous post.

terrell

January 6th, 2012
6:38 am

ASG
“Joe, here’s your paycheck for the week. SIKE!!!!!!”

Double Zero Eight

January 6th, 2012
6:40 am

Also spelled “regulation” incorrectly in my 6:35 post.

darrell starks

January 6th, 2012
6:40 am

This was a statement game for the future of the Atlanta Hawks. It’s very clear now that the Hawks must make a trade for center.

No inside game at all, every thing are jumpshots will not get you to promised land.

Trade any one on this team to bring in a center.

GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!

no go

January 6th, 2012
6:45 am

losing to the heat without their 2 superstars? it will be another long year.

Jose

January 6th, 2012
6:48 am

Charles barkley said it right, “Hawks have no energy, they are relaxed this is just because D Wade and Lebron are not playing”. TNT also displayed the Joe Johnson deteriorating trend from a peak of 25 ppg downwards to the current 16 ppg in 2011-2012. What does that tell you about the management that decided to offer long expensive contract (May be they knew that Hawks were on sale all along). Our bench performs better than the starters, they also display more energy than the starters, sorry for restating the obvious.

dub366

January 6th, 2012
6:50 am

the biggest problem here is JOE JOHNSON 7 Quarter 20 pts

JM

January 6th, 2012
6:57 am

Blow this ish up! Start over.

Damn Hawks!

DB

January 6th, 2012
7:11 am

Why is everybody surprised that we got beat by Miami that didn’t have Wade or LJ. We have been doing this for years. If anyone listened to Charles B he was right on with this team…..No Heart and No Toughness at ALL!!!!!!!! We have role players that could go to a good team and be productive. Let’s face it if they plan on keeping this team it is time to make a move….I have loved all my sports teams in ATL since the 70’s but I would NEVER pay to see this team. Soon the fans will boycott!!!

darrell starks

January 6th, 2012
7:13 am

If your the Hawks do you take a chance on Demarcus Cousins ? yes
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!

Eric

January 6th, 2012
7:16 am

I can’t find it in me to put as much blame on Al as the other starters for this game. Obviously, he could have had a better game, but there’s only so much you can do by yourself without getting the ball. If he hadn’t been in foul trouble, I’d probably say he should have been playing better defense, but he basically was in foul trouble for the entire night. A lot of those fouls were BS calls too, especially the time when he blocked either Chalmers or Cole and they said he got them with his body. You never play as aggressively when you know you have to worry about picking up a foul and leaving the game.

On another note, I can’t blame him much on the offensive end either. He did make some bad passes which resulted in a couple of costly turnovers. He should definitely be called out for that, but other than that, his teammates ignored him almost entirely on the offensive end for basically the whole night. Aside from setting screens and crashing the glass, there wasn’t much Horford could do to help on the offensive end. He never got a play called for him and for whatever reason, he didn’t get the ball in the post. Even Charles Barkley called that out on multiple occasions. He mentioned that he doesn’t understand why the Hawks don’t try to establish Horford in the post, since that would be a better option than what they usually do. If you don’t believe me, check your DVR if you recorded the game. Horford could have been better, but at least he was trying and he couldn’t do much more than he was doing on the offensive end without getting the ball. On the defensive end, yes, he could have been better, but you can only be so aggressive when you are one foul away from leaving the game (either by DQ or coach’s decision), and that is basically the situation that Al was in the entire night.

I really felt like the only reason we were even in the game during the first couple of overtimes and down the stretch was due to Ivan and Al rebounding all of the bricked shots that our ballhogs were throwing up. JJ couldn’t buy a shot and Josh was setting for jumpers too often. He hit one big one late in the fourth, but I wouldn’t ask him to shoot a shot like that in that situation. At least Josh started attempting to attack inside, but still, he continued to shoot some jumpers in crunch time that hurt the team. You could see the team completely collapse once both Ivan and Al fouled out. There was no one to rebound the misses, and it was a bunch of missed jumpshots from that point on.

J

January 6th, 2012
7:30 am

Misuse of bench, when you’ve got people like Stackhouse defensively and down the stretch warming the bench? You need fresher legs 3 OT, can’t rely on the same guys to pull you out of the whole every game. Share the pill better.

darrell starks

January 6th, 2012
7:30 am

Hawks have no inside game or toughness at all, except IVAN JOHNSON.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!

Dawg

January 6th, 2012
7:31 am

Booooooo. Without Jeff Teague hitting on all cylendars, we are bad. Horrible effort. We were embarrashed on national TV.

The announcers for TNT are horrible. They offered nothing except wise cracks.

Wabe

January 6th, 2012
7:32 am

typical hawks man…

just read a yahoo article that the Warriors are aggressively pursuing Dwight Howard…

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